Like being a citizen farmer, only easier on the back.

16 January 2009

New fiction crush.

His novel Black Swan Green is one that went in and out a lot at the library where I worked, and I always thought it had an interesting cover, but I never felt like bringing it home. For one thing, I think I kept getting him mixed up with Mark Danielewski, and I was definitely never interested in him (as I perceived he was one of those authors who did too much playing with language and form to appeal to me, like Salman Rushdie and Michael Chabon).

So why I just lately requested and checked out Black Swan Green I can't tell you (ah, I'm already getting so old, I've forgotten why I've requested half the books on my library "hold" list). But I'm so glad I did. I loved it. It's a coming-of-age tale (don't groan--those can be painful but they can also be very, very good) of a young teenager, living in the British suburban town of Black Swan Green, striving to make it through school without being ostracized because of his stutter, and watching the slow breakdown of his parents' marriage--although he doesn't want to believe that's what he's seeing.

It's hard to give you a flavor of what I mean, as this is a book that shines as a whole but doesn't offer up too many short, quotable examples. But I really liked the 13-year-old protagonist, Jason Taylor. It's very funny, but often my favorite novels feature male adolescent characters, which is ironic because I think of teen boys as completely foreign to myself and somewhat closer to animals than human beings (I've never been overfond of most teen girls, either, snotty as they can be, which starts to explain why I'm SO glad not to be in high school anymore). When teen boys are icky, they're very, very icky. But when they're likable? They're SO likable. Think Holden Caulfield. Think John Green's male characters in Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns. Think Michael Cera's character on Arrested Development. See what I mean?

I'll leave you with one bit that I did find amusing, in which Jason is trying to figure out the related mysteries of girls and sex:

"Girls and girlfriends're worrying. Sex education's only about how to make babies and how not to make babies. What I need to know is what you do to turn ordinary girls like Sally from Blackburn into girlfriends you can snog and be seen snogging. I'm not sure if I really want to have sexual intercourse and I definitely don't want babies. Babies just poo and bawl. But not having a girlfriend means you're a homo or a total loser or both.

...I don't know whether or not I know the facts of life. You can't ask adults 'cause you can't ask adults. You can't ask kids 'cause it'd be all round school by first break. So either everybody knows everything but nobody's saying anything, or else nobody knows anything and girlfriends just sort of...happen." (p. 172.)

See what I mean? That's pretty good stuff for a coming-of-age novel. I hate to break it to this kid, but that's a lot what adulthood is like too. Everybody who knows nothing is talking a lot, and those who know something are keeping pretty quiet. Sigh. Have a good weekend, all.

Comments

Jessica--crazy! And yet oh so right. I think that's why I ordered it; for some reason I've always been aware that it's out there. DO try it and let me know what you think, okay? I couldn't put it down but I can also see where it might not be for everybody. But I'd very much like to hear what you think.

Tripp, Steve,
You're way ahead of me. I just picked up "Cloud Atlas" today and am totally pumped about it. It's interesting you say that about the beginning, Steve, because it took me about 50 pages to really get into this one too, but after that there was no going back.

Yeah, Tripp, I've had both "House of Leaves" and "Only Revolutions" home to read and never felt like picking either one up. One of these days I suppose I should try again.

Oh, Sarah,
I hear you. One day when I was still in grad school I was walking around campus, looking shlubby and wearing an old plaid shirt, and I laughed to think that five years previously I'd been walking around the same campus, wearing the same shirt, feeling the same way.

And now, eons later? I still have the shirt. Still feel largely the same, just more tired. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

You're pretty spectacular, so I hope you find that someone at your same spectacular level. ON the bright side, I think we're all pretty much clueless all our lives, so odds are good you'll find that similar clueless someone, I would think.